Boston Business & Development Leaders Share Wisdom

6 months ago

BOSTON (CBS) – With new construction everywhere and jobs expanding, many experts say Boston is in the middle of an economicboom. Some of the biggest names in Boston business and development came together Thursday for the WBZ Business Breakfast, where the topic was Bringing Business to Boston.

“Other cities and other states are trying to copy us, and trying to learn about the secret sauce,” said Massport CEOTom Glynn.

He credited much of Boston’s success to its diverse working base, for example, in the Seaport.

“People forget we have a working port in Boston that employs about 7,000 folks in good blue collar jobs. A lot of cities are trying to create blue collar jobs.”

Another strength: all of the students. Jody Rose of New England Venture CapitalAssociation said we just need to teach them what’s out there.

“They have all these great companies that they know because they’re strong brands, but then it’s a realization of, ‘Oh, they’re actually here in Boston.’”

As encouraging as it may sound, it is not the whole story. Jim Rooney, President of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, said we need to look at the state as a whole, and that businessesneed to step up to the plate to help outside of Boston.

“There’s pockets like western Massachusetts, Springfield, New Bedford, that are trailing,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of responsibility that lies on the business community. So when a company like GE lands in Boston, and then they’re thinking in the future about where to make things, they think about Fitchburg, they think about Springfield.”

Director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority Brian Golden was also among the panelists.